Final third lets us down – Mark Robins tells Stoke attacking play...

Mark Robins, the manager of Stoke, stated that his team has to increase the tempo of their attacks after they failed to

score against Oxford at the bet365 Stadium once again.

The Potters’ attempts to escape the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone are being hampered by their lack of goals,

as they have drawn three of their last four league games since Robins took over at the beginning of January.

They failed to score for the fifth time in seven home games. Robins is hopeful that the loan signing of Ali Al-Hamadi

from Ipswich on Friday would increase their attacking threat.

His new teammates hardly seemed interested in ruining Oxford’s eight-game unbeaten league run under Gary

Rowett, especially with the Iraqi forward watching from the stands.

Robins said: “We had opportunities to play through them, to play around them – I thought we did pretty well in that

sense.

“But the last third is when we fall short a little bit because we have to sprint and move the ball fast in that last third.

The more time you spend with the ball in the middle of the field, the more chances you have to score because the ball

is taken away from you higher up the field.

There are aspects of frustration, but there are also some signs that it is beginning to happen when we do arrive and

then miss the chance to shoot down — that’s frustrating.

But because of decision-making and game comprehension, it’s still a long way off at this point.

“These aren’t excuses, this is what I’m seeing, one of the failings that we’re experiencing at the moment, but you’re

going through a process.”

Oxford captain Cameron Brannagan had a 13th-minute effort pushed behind by Stoke goalkeeper Viktor Johansson,

whose opposite number, Jamie Cumming, denied Andrew Moran later in the first half.

The visitors had a great opportunity to score five minutes after the restart when Siriki Dembele played in Tom

Bradshaw, with Johansson rushing off his line to make a good save.

Johansson then almost gifted Oxford the win with seven minutes left when he was dispossessed in trying to shepherd

the ball out for a throw-in by Ole Romeny, who went on to hit the bar from a tight angle.

Oxford boss Rowett said: “I thought it was a pretty even encounter.

“Of course, when Ole pinches the ball down in the corner and the goal looks open you half think, ‘Is this the moment

where we snatch it and we pinch the points?’

He struck the bar, of course, and he couldn’t quite finish, but I wouldn’t have been leaving with the opinion that we

deserved all three points.

“I don’t think there was enough in it to make either team feel like they should have won the game, even though I

think we maybe had a little more possession and a little better chance.

“When that occurs, as the away team, you’re a little happier because we’ve won four straight at home and you just

want to pick up points away from home, so maintaining our run and keeping a clean sheet is not to be sniffed at.”

Final third lets us down – Mark Robins tells Stoke attacking play must improve